Auction raises funds for campers

The community came out in force to support the Kimball Camp YMCA Nature Center Annual Auction Monday night at Johnny T’s Next Door in Hillsdale.

Director Harold Campbell said proceeds go toward camperships for children attending the camp on Long Lake Road near Reading.

A silent auction featuring artwork, tools, sports memorabilia, gift certificates and more started at 5:30 p.m. with the auction by Sprunger Auctioneers starting an hour later.

Office Manager Janet Miller said there were 182 items donated by area businesses for the silent auction. Last year the overall auction raised $13,000 and in year’s past the average raised has been around $10,000, Miller said.

“There are a lot of businesses that participate every year,” Miller said. “They are very good to us.”

Miller said by 6:30 p.m. there were 66 who had signed in for the auction, obtaining numbers in order to bid on everything from a large Crescent tool kit to candy bars and dog food. There were even tickets to tour an alligator sanctuary in Athens.

Raffle tickets were sold for a chance to win an Apple I Pad 4 at $10 each with a maximum of 200 tickets sold. Also available were 50/50 tickets at $20 each for a T-shirt and a chance to win $200.

Upon seeing Detroit Lions memorabilia at the silent auction, Sarah Jackson of Hillsdale said she quickly called her boyfriend, a Lions fan, to let him know about the autographed football on display.

“I know the Campbells and I come every year,” Jackson said. “It’s something I look forward to doing since there’s always a lot to bid on.”

Others milling about the auction items were Liz Grigsby with her 2-year-old daughter, Piper, who had fun weaving around the crowd.

“She may be a future camper at Kimball Camp,” said her mother.

Bob and Ruth Martin returned from Florida to attend the auction, while Joe and Christine Levak said they try to attend annually.

Camp Program Director Amanda Norris said the event “turned out a good sized crowd” and it was fun to see the kids recruited to help hold items up as the auctioneering took place.“The memories they create at camp are something they will remember the rest of their lives,” Norris said. “I’ve had grandparents tell me they have pictures of themselves having fun at camp, which brings up my own memories of camp when I was a kid.”

Miller said the camp can’t thank the community enough for its generosity to help make childhood camp memories special.